The Intentional Travelers

Get Out There – Even Farther Out There

There once was a time when vacations were two weeks at the beach or mountains and an ultimate trip was a whirlwind tour of Europe. Those were our parents holidays, now experienced travelers are looking for longer and more exotic adventures and travel companies are eager to help. Use the links below to visit some websites to explore your adventure options.

Antarctica – Who ever thought that visiting Antarctica could be a vacation? Today Antarctica has a tourism industry. Over the past decade visitors to the frozen bottom of the world have numbered around 32,000 per year with 10,000 coming by cruise ship. Cruise ships provide all the luxury you’d expect but if you’d rather get up close to some wildlife look into expedition cruises with Hurtigruten or Antarctica Adventures.

Hurtigruten Cruises

Antarctica Adventures

Celebrity Cruises

The Galapagos – A unique group of islands off the coast of Ecuador with amazing wildlife. There isolation and incredible animals inhabitants inspired Darwin to develop his Origin of Species theory. These islands are growing so much in popularity as a travel destination that cruise lines have developed a fleet of smaller ships just to sail the Galapagos. You can also design an independent vacation and stay at one of the Galapagos hotels.

Galapagos Adventure Tours

Celebrity Galapagos Cruises

India – For Westerners India is still one of the most exotic travel destinations and perhaps that’s why lately it’s growing in popularity. Visiting India is much like saying your going to vacation in America – it is huge, being almost one third the size of America but with four times the population. It is also alien to most Westerners from its food, to the religion, culture and its ancient history. If you want to visit it’s recommended that you take it one small piece at a time and start your planning through one of the countries highly rated tour companies. You will also discover that more and more cruise itineraries are now including port calls in India.

Travel To India

Azamara Asia Cruises

The Northern Lights – Journey to the home of beluga whales, polar bears and in winter the amazing phenomenon of the northern lights or the aurora borealis, meaning “north wind of the dawn”. An event destination that stretches from Alaska across Canada to Iceland and Norway. Explore tours on the Alaska Railway to Fairbanks and the Aurora Borealis basecamp or a winter cruise to the top of Norway inside the Arctic Circle.

Northern Lights Tours

Vikings Northern Lights

Explore Lost Civilizations Like Petra, Valley of the Kings, Angkor Wat and the Cities of the Maya. Mysterious and exotic places are out there and most are accessible to explorers of all ages. You know you want to go. All you need to decide is how to travel and when to go.

Petra is over two thousand years old it’s a city carved out of solid rock. It is not known precisely when Petra was built, but the city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the 1st century BC, at the cross roads of the trade in frankincense, myrrh, and spices.

In a land of myth and legend are the burial grounds of the oldest and greatest kings of Egypt . These places exist in the collective imaginations of the world and seem almost impossible to occupy a place in the real world. The most impressive of Egypt’s ancient monuments lie in the Valley of the Kings.

Angkor Wat, the eighth wonder of the world, with the intricacy and symbolism of the Taj Mahal and the scale and symmetry of the Egyptian pyramids. The temple will inspire and amaze you and leave you in awe. A place that needs to be experienced in order to believe.

Angkor Wat Tours

Visit Egypt Tours

Petra Tours From Amman

On A Bus in Brunei

Brunei is beautiful, friendly, safe and modern. This is a small country (Sultanate) located on the north coast of Borneo and fueled by energy – oil (black gold) and natural gas. Bandar Seri Begawan, is the capital of the Sultanate of Brunei. It is also the location of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. The mosque is considered one of the most beautiful in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a place of worship, a major historical site and the most famous tourist attraction of the country.

While taking a bus in Brunei we sat up front and a Canadian couple sat across from us directly behind the driver. The Canadians were very eager to talk about the country and peppered the driver with questions. This is a part of that overheard exchange:

Canadian tourist – What form of government do you have here in Brunei?

Bus driver – We have the Sultan and the Legislative Council.

Canadian tourist – So the Sultan is the head of government?

Bus driver – Yes, he takes the role of Prime Minister

Canadian tourist – How often do you have elections and are there a number of political parties?

Bus driver – Oh, we don’t have parties or elections. The Sultan appoints each member of the council.

Canadian tourist– Does that much power concern you? Don’t you fear corruption?

Bus driver – No. The Sultan would remove anyone that was corrupt.

Canadian tourist – But don’t the people want a say in what the country does?

Bus driver – Why? We have the Sultan. He takes very good care of us…

You can learn a lot about people overhearing conversations 😉

What makes this thinking possible is an average per capita income of over US$40,000. The Sultan’s government makes sizable amounts of money from oil, which it solely controls, and number of the countries businesses and industry along with large investments from that oil money worldwide.

The Sultan does take care of his people. At one time a part of housing in Bandar Seri Begawan was in ramshackle water villages. But those picturesque houses on stilts standing out over the water had major problems. Sanitation was a serious issue, so the Sultan has been replacing them with new water villages with modern sewage treatment and solid structural supports. He has also been providing virtually everyone in Brunei with a free education, health care and a guaranteed job. Also modern, attractive, free public housing is popping up all around the country.